Trump's Justice Department to investigate Biden pardons, use of autopen
Ed Martin, the Justice Department's pardon attorney, told staff June 2 that he had been directed to investigate clemency and pardons granted by Biden, a Democrat, in the waning days of his presidency to family members and death row inmates, according to Reuters.
In an email seen by Reuters, the investigation will focus on whether Biden "was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through use of AutoPen or other means."
An autopen is a device that mechanically replicates a signature.
Presidents, including Trump, have used autopens for decades. There is no law prohibiting the use of autopens for pardons, as previous presidents have done.
At a news briefing June 3, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the question was not whether the autopen had been used.
"It's whether or not the president of the United States knew it was being used, and if not, who was using it in his name, which is clearly, illegal behavior," she said.
There is no evidence to suggest anyone used the autopen without Biden's knowledge.
On Jan 20, the last day of his presidency, Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had been 'subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me − the worst kind of partisan politics.'
On the campaign trail in 2023, Trump, who was then facing four criminal indictments, vowed to appoint a special prosecutor if he was reelected to 'go after' Biden and his family.
The pardons went to Biden's siblings James Biden, Frank Biden and Valerie Biden Owens as well as their spouses, John Owens and Sara Biden. Biden on Dec. 1 pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.
A spokeswoman for Biden refused to comment on the development.
The 82-year old Democrat announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' Stage 4 prostate cancer. Questions around Biden's mental health intensified after his presidential debate with then-Republican nominee Donald Trump in June 2024; he ultimately dropped out of the White House race, paving the way for then-Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee.
On May 22, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, sent letters to Biden's physician and former White House aides demanding they appear for a transcribed interview as part of an investigation into Biden's health and use of the autopen.
The investigation's stated purpose is to 'uncover the truth' about Biden's "mental decline and potential unauthorized use of an autopen for sweeping pardons and other executive actions.'
Letters seeking testimony have been sent to staffers including Anthony Bernal, former senior adviser to the first lady; former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden; and former Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini.
Martin, the DOJ official, who wrote the letter to staff, took over as director of the Weaponization Working Group, associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney after his nomination for U.S. attorney for Washington D.C. was pulled by Trump in early May. Martin failed to get enough Republican support from Capitol Hill because of his championing of the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asked former first lady Jill Biden to speak up about her husband's mental health, saying she was 'complicit' in a 'cover-up.'
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department to investigate Biden family pardons, autopen use
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump pick Alina Habba is out\u00a0as interim US attorney for New Jersey
President Donald Trump's former lawyer Alina Habba was rejected as the state's top federal prosecutor. WASHINGTON – A panel of judges in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey declined to permanently appoint President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Alina Habba, to serve as the state's top federal prosecutor, according to an order from the court. Habba has been serving as New Jersey's interim U.S. attorney since her appointment by Trump in March, but was limited by law to 120 days in office unless the court agreed to keep her in place. The U.S. Senate has not yet acted on her formal nomination to the role, submitted by Trump this month. The court instead appointed the office's No. 2 attorney, Desiree Grace, the order said. More: Trump's team promised transparency on Epstein. Here's what they delivered. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York last week declined to keep Trump's U.S. attorney pick John Sarcone in place after his 120-day term neared expiration. Sarcone managed to stay in the office after the Justice Department found a workaround by naming him as "special attorney to the attorney general," according to The New York Times. Habba's brief tenure as New Jersey's interim U.S. attorney included the filing of multiple legal actions against Democratic elected officials. Her office brought criminal charges against Democratic U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver, as she and other members of Congress and Newark's Democratic mayor, Ras Baraka, tried to visit an immigration detention center. The scene grew chaotic after immigration agents tried to arrest Baraka for trespassing, and McIver's elbows appeared to make brief contact with an immigration officer. Habba's office charged McIver with two counts of assaulting and impeding a law enforcement officer. McIver has pleaded not guilty. Habba's office did not follow Justice Department rules, which require prosecutors to seek permission from the Public Integrity Section before bringing criminal charges against a member of Congress for conduct related to their official duties. Habba's office also charged Baraka, but later dropped the case, prompting a federal magistrate judge to criticize her office for its handling of the matter. Prior to March, Habba had never worked as a prosecutor. She represented Trump in a variety of civil litigation, including a trial in which a jury found Trump liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. In 2023, a federal judge in Florida sanctioned Trump and Habba and ordered them to pay $1 million for filing a frivolous lawsuit, which alleged that Hillary Clinton and others conspired to damage Trump's reputation in the investigation into Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani's digs at Hakeem Jeffries resurface as House Dem leader weighs backing socialist NYC mayoral candidate
Socialist New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani once implied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was an Islamophobe and likened the highest-ranking black House lawmaker in US history to notorious segregationist George Wallace. The past digs resurfaced as Jeffries continues to drag his feet on an endorsement after meeting with Mamdani last week for the first time since the Queens state lawmaker locked down the Democratic mayoral nod. The two are expected to have another confab when Mamdani returns from his Uganda vacation at the end of the month. The pro-Palestinian pol has been part of a cadre of lefty firebrands that has long bashed Jeffries over his remarks in steadfast support of Israel from a 2014 rally, comparing it to Wallace's infamous 1963 call for 'segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.' 'After at least 2,251 Palestinians were killed over the course of July 2014, Hakeem Jeffries got on stage at a rally in NYC and paraphrased George Wallace. 'Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever,'' Mamdani fumed in a November 2022 X post. 5 Zohran Mamdani has been working to court top Democratic leaders who have been skittish about throwing their weight behind him. X/zohrankmamdani Jeffries, a Brooklyn-based Democrat, has been a staunch backer of Israel, though since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, he has tried to highlight concerns about the treatment of the Palestinians as well. 5 Hakeem Jeffries has long been a public supporter of Israel, something that has peeved his left flank. Getty Images Mamdani, meanwhile, has been a ferocious critic of the Jewish state — a term he rejects. Several months after comparing Jeffries to Wallace, Mamdani appeared to accuse the party boss of Islamophobia, while opining on a 2000 debate in which the Brooklyn Dem noted the religious differences he had with his rival for a seat in the New York State Assembly. 'Yes, my opponent is older; I'm younger. It's not religion. Yes, the assemblyman is a practicing Muslim, and I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church,' Jeffries said in the 2000 debate before his then-foe Roger Green stormed off. Mamdani, a practicing Muslim and assembly member from Queens, strongly insinuated Jeffries had been Islamophobic with those remarks. '[Islamophobia] has become less explicit. … You might not hear the word 'Muslim.' You might not hear the word Islam. But you will hear about extremism or ties to specific groups or attempts at making associations that will block any consideration of a candidacy in a voter's mind,' Mamdani reflected to Politico in 2023. Later that same year — just over two months after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel — Mamdani publicly roasted Jeffries for not backing a ceasefire, in a clip he proudly shared on social media. 'Congressman Jeffries has yet to call for a ceasefire. Congressman Jeffries has said that he seriously supports President Biden's request for an additional $14 billion in military funding for Israel,' Mamdani chided. 'And I must ask Congressman Jeffries how many more Palestinians must be killed before you call for a ceasefire? How many more?' he added to cheers. 5 Hakeem Jeffries has made clear he'd rather focus on attacking President Trump than intraparty battles. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock Mamdani has long fixated on the Israel-Hamas war. In October 2023, just about a week after Hamas' surprise attack sparked the conflict, Mamdani was arrested during a protest near then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's Park Slope home. Like Jeffries, Schumer has so far refrained from endorsing Mamdani in the mayoral race. 5 Some Democrats quietly feared that Zohran Mamdani could give Republicans ammunition in the 2026 midterms. Derek French/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Since Mamdani's shock primary win in June, Jeffries has engaged in a delicate dance of not backing the young socialist, but refraining from criticizing him publicly as well. Last month, Jeffries gently called on Mamdani to clarify his defense of the phrase 'globalize the intifada' — widely seen as a call for violent uprisings against Israel — which the socialist chalked it up to a 'desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.' But as he campaigns for the November general election, Mamdani has since said he would 'discourage' the use of the phrase, and stressed that he hadn't been using it. Some progressive hardliners, emboldened by Mamdani's primary victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have mused about targeting other so-called 'establishment' Democrats like Jeffries. Jeffries' allies, though, have warned Democratic socialists in New York City against messing with him. 'Leader Hakeem Jeffries is focused on taking back the House from the MAGA extremists who just ripped health care away from millions of Americans,' his senior adviser André Richardson told CNN earlier this month. 'However, if Team Gentrification wants a primary fight, our response will be forceful and unrelenting. We will teach them and all of their incumbents a painful lesson on June 23, 2026.' National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesman Mike Marinella said Jeffries' prospects at re-election didn't look good in light of Mamdani's past critiques of the top House Dem. 'Hakeem is too weird and too weak to even win over the Democrat nominee for his own city. How would anyone expect him to win back the House?' Marinella told The Post. 5 Hakeem Jeffries met with Zohran Mamdani last week and has plans to meet him again after the latter's return from Uganda. Getty Images 'The socialism wing has taken over the Democrat Party because this is their radical platform.' Mamdani announced on Sunday that he will be taking a break from the campaign so that he and his wife can go to Uganda, where he immigrated from when he was a child. Jeffries told reporters Monday that he'll meet with Mamdani when the candidate returns. 'We agreed to reconvene with other members of the [New York] delegation and high-level community leaders in Brooklyn upon his return to the country,' he said. The Post reached out to reps for Mamdani and Jeffries for comment.
Chicago Tribune
17 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times says he will take the newspaper public in the coming year
LOS ANGELES — Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times since 2018, said this week that he intends to take the newspaper public in the coming year. During an interview on Monday's 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,' Soon-Shiong said the move would allow the Times 'to be democratized and allow the public to have ownership of this paper.' Soon-Shiong said he's working with 'an organization that's putting that together right now.' He didn't identify the organization or say whether the deal would involve an initial public offer to sell shares of the company or another investment arrangement. 'Whether you're right, left, Democrat, Republican, you're an American. So the opportunity for us to provide a paper that is the voices of the people, truly the voices of the people, is important,' he said. Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, acquired the Times as part of a $500 million deal, returning it to local ownership two decades after the Chandler family sold it to Tribune Co. Soon-Shiong's purchase raised hopes after years of cutbacks, circulation declines and leadership changes. But like much of the media industry, the Times has continued to face financial difficulties, losing money and subscribers. Last year the company said it would lay off at least 115 employees — more than 20% of the newsroom — in one of the largest staff cuts in the newspaper's history. Also in 2024, executive editor Kevin Merida suddenly stepped down after a 2 1/2-year tenure at the newspaper that spanned the coronavirus pandemic and three Pulitzer Prizes, as well as a period of layoffs and contentious contract negotiations.
